Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group plc said it agreed to vote in favour of Joshua Alliance’s plan to buy Manchester fashion group N Brown, which Frasers holds a minority stake in, and that it was seeking talks with Mulberry Group’s majority owner on its latest offer to buy the handbag maker. 

Alliance launched his plan on Thursday to buy the clothing and footwear retailer N Brown in a 40p per share cash deal that values the company at about £191 million overall. Alliance is a member of the company’s founding family. The deal would take the company private as it delists from the AIM market.

Frasers holds about 20.3% of N Brown’s issued shares. The company said it would have been a “willing buyer or a willing seller” at 40p per share. 

“As it is, Frasers is a willing seller,” the company said. “Frasers wishes Joshua Alliance and the N Brown management team every success for the future, and although Frasers will have divested of its shareholding in full, Frasers looks forward to a strategic relationship with Joshua Alliance and the N Brown team post-Acquisition. Frasers would also like to take the opportunity to thank N Brown and Joshua Alliance for the fulsome engagement ahead of the Acquisition Announcement.”

Frasers also said it had not heard back formally from Mulberry regarding its second, sweetened offer last Friday to buy the portion of the company it does not already own at a price valuing Mulberry at £111 million overall. 

Mulberry said on Monday it was working with advisers to consider a response to the offer. 

“Frasers notes that it is still yet to receive formal feedback from the Board of Mulberry on the Revised Proposal,” Frasers said. 

Challice Limited, the investment vehicle of Singapore-based billionaire Ong Beng Seng, which owns 56.4% of Mulberry’s shares, said after the latest offer that it “has no interest in either selling its Mulberry Shares to Frasers or providing Frasers with any irrevocable or other undertaking”.

Frasers said on Friday it “has sought to engage with Challice directly” but did not say what the results of those efforts were.